Tennis and Instant Replays: What Would Bjorn Do?
Nothing is immune from technological advancement. Not even, it seems, the grand old game of tennis. According to the Associated Press, the ATP Tour has agreed to begin using instant reply in a few limited venues (including the U.S. Open, this fall). The move is probably a good one, although my general knee-jerk reaction is to be opposed to anything that modernizes a traditional sport (cf. The Designated Hitter Rule, which has been ruining baseball since 1973). Tennis, like all of life, is subject to human error, and that's the way it's always been. The new rule will be a little bit like football, with each player allowed to challenge two calls per set (and a third if the set goes to tiebreak), though I don't believe there is any penalty if the challenger is wrong/the call is held. Johnny Mac is for it, and so is Agassi, and if those guys want it, I supsect it's probably the right way to go.
Still, I can't help but think that, in some ways, it's like the move from wooden racquets to those made of inceasingly advanced space-age materials. Sure, the game has gotten faster, harder, stronger and more "exciting," but at the cost of some finesse. Bjorn Borg was probably the last great wooden racquet player (Jimmy Connors, as you will recall, finished his career using a first-generation metal Wilson T-2000 which weighed nearly five pounds) and, at least to me, tennis went through a seismic shift when he left the game. WIll replays have the same impact twenty-five years from now? It remains to be seen. One thing is for sure: My old wooden Donnay Borg Pro, which is still someplace in my parent's house, may see some use if i do feel the need to protest.
